The Edina police officer roughed up by a drunken driver she stopped needed staples and stitches to seal up her head wounds, according to charges filed Tuesday against the 25-year-old suspect.
Samuel D. Ronneberg of Lakeville was charged in Hennepin County District Court with felony assault, along with gross-misdemeanor counts of assault and drunken driving. Ronneberg, whose criminal history includes a drunken driving conviction from 2014, remains jailed in lieu of $40,000 bail.
Along with spelling out the officer's injuries — wounds to the back of her head and an ear, and a black eye — she "may have lost consciousness" during the clash about 2:50 a.m. Sunday along Hwy. 169, near the Londonderry Road.
Ronneberg was stopped after he drove too close to the officer's squad car and the vehicle she had pulled over, police said.
The officer chased down Ronneberg, and a preliminary breath test measured his blood alcohol content at 0.15 percent, nearly twice the legal limit for driving in Minnesota, the charges read.
While in the back of the squad car, Ronneberg wriggled one hand free from the metal handcuffs and warned the officer that he was about to vomit, the complaint continued. The officer opened the door, allowing Ronneberg to allegedly grab her by the hair and hit her multiple times before fleeing on foot.
With the help of other agencies, Ronneberg was caught a little more than a mile to the north.
Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482
